EL WAK, Somalia—In this remote town on the Horn of Africa, about 270 miles south of the capital city of Mogadishu, schoolchildren loiter in the streets in search of food.

“I can’t go to school. I’m feeling hungry,” said 13-year-old Mohamed Azim, who was busy looking for water and food distributed by the United Nations. “I have not eaten anything for days. Our school has stopped giving us meals. I have been forced to leave school and save my life.”